Just Because I Scold You Doesn't Mean I Don't Love You
by GoldGuardian2418
Summary: When Rachel has to scold Cassie about getting into a fight at school, Cassie feels her aunt doesn't care about her anymore. Can Rachel prove that she still loves her niece? Done as a request for guestsurprise. :)


**guestsurprise, who owns Cassie, asked for this one. Here you go, Amiga! Enjoy! :)**

 **Ben 10 belongs to Cartoon Network and Man of Action. Summer and Forrest belong to VinnieStokerLover. I only own Rachel, Sasha, and Courtney.**

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 **Just Because I Scold You Doesn't Mean I Don't Love You**

"Cassie, you know better than to be part of a fight," Rachel said, her voice firm. "You should have gone to the teacher."

"Like she would have helped!" Cassie exclaimed.

The teenager had gotten into a bad fight at school with some bullies, but this time, she had decided to put the bullies in their places by fighting back, which ended in the bullies having broken noses and black eyes. She had only gotten some bruises on her arms and the principal had called Rachel after the bullies were sent to the nurse's office and she was sent to the principal's office.

Needless to say, Rachel was quite shocked by what her niece had done and when they got home, she began scolding the young girl. "Cassie, I can't believe you decided to fight them," she now said, his voice still firm.

"I just wanted them to leave me alone and stop saying bad things about you!" Cassie shouted back to her.

"That's no excuse to give them black eyes and broken noses!" Her aunt said, snapping her fingers sharply. "You better hope their parents don't come pressing charges!"

Cassie was hurt. She had never really been scolded by Rachel before. Her aunt maybe would tell her that she shouldn't have done something and have said it in a firm, gentle voice, but this time, the older woman looked very disappointed and also looked very upset with her. "I thought you cared!" The teenager shouted back.

"I do care," Rachel said. "But you still know better."

Tears gathered in the teenager's eyes and she gave her aunt an angry look. "Fine," she said before she stormed away, going up to her room and slamming the door.

Rachel sighed as she pressed her fingers to her forehead, shaking her head. Rook came in, having heard everything. "Well, that probably didn't go so well," he said.

"Rook, she knows better," the owner of the Grant Mansion said. "Why would she participate in a fight instead of going to the teacher?"

"She probably felt the teacher wouldn't take action and felt that she had to do something," Rook replied. "But still, what she did was wrong."

Rachel looked at him. "Do you think I might have been a little too harsh on her?" She asked. "I've never had to scold her before and she looked so hurt."

The Revonnahgander was quiet a moment. "Maybe a little," he said after a moment. "Give her some time to cool off. I think she'll realize that what she did was wrong and you and her can talk about it later."

Nodding, Rachel set about to getting some lunch going, but her mind was still on Cassie. Maybe she shouldn't have been so quick to scold her, but she was upset about the fact that the bullies had been injured and she was hoping the parents wouldn't press charges.

A couple hours later, Rachel was in the living room with her children and they were all cuddling and were soon joined by the other children of the mansion. Cuddling time was a type of bonding for the kids and Rachel and the children loved to spend time with their aunt, who was part of the reason they were at the Mansion and had been adopted into the family. Cassie came downstairs and saw all her cousins and her brother in the living room with Rachel, who happened to glance up and see her. "Hey, Cassie," she said softly, a smile on her face. "Why don't you join us?"

She was hoping to perhaps show the young girl that she wasn't upset with her anymore, but the teenager shook her head, declining. "Aw, come on, Cassie," one of the younger children said. "Please join us."

Even with the coaxing, the teenager declined and walked away. "Mommy, is Cassie okay?" Summer asked her mother.

"I'm not sure, pumpkin," Rachel said, though she had a feeling Cassie was still upset from earlier. She decided to find out later.

But later on, it was still evident that something was wrong. Rachel was helping her oldest daughter Courtney with decorating her room and the young girl had giggled at how funny her mother looked on a step ladder reaching up high. Well, that initiated a tickle fight and Rachel was tickling Courtney, making her laugh heartily. Cassie heard the laughter and looked to see what was going on, but didn't join in.

Rachel spotted her. "Hey, Cassie," she said, a smile on her face. "Want to help me tickle your cousin?"

The teenager shook her head. "No, I'm not in the mood," she said, refusing to join in and walking away.

Now Rachel sensed there was a serious rift happening and later on, tried to talk to Cassie, but the young girl went on like nothing was wrong. That only raised Rachel's suspicions, especially when she heard Cassie talk to Sasha about cool things she was doing, but saying almost nothing to her, making the older woman feel slightly jealous and she decided that there was only one way to fix the rift between them. She told Rook her idea and he agreed with her. Snare-Oh offered to help, but Rachel politely declined. She needed Cassie to listen to her and for that, they needed to be the only ones in the mansion.

 _The next morning…_

Cassie woke up and got dressed for the day, eager to have a good day and to go spend time with Blitzwolfer. She went to his door and found a note addressed to her. Curious, she read it.

 _Sweetpaws,_

 _A mission came up and I had to leave early. I'll be back later._

 _Blitzwolfer._

Nodding and trying not to feel disappointment, Cassie decided to try and find someone else, but a search proved the Mansion was empty, except for her and Rachel, who was currently in the shower. Shrugging, she tried the door, but found it locked, even when she tried to unlock it. Curious, she went to one of the computers and her eyes widened at what the screen read.

 _ **Level One Lockdown**_

This meant the Mansion was on temporary lockdown and no one could get out. Realizing Rachel had no doubt done it to keep Cassie from escaping, the teenager went back to her room and put on her bathing suit, deciding to go to the swimming pool room to avoid her aunt, who she knew would be coming to find her soon, something she wanted to avoid, although deep down she knew Rachel wouldn't give up until she had found her.

Rachel finished her shower and went to go find Cassie. "Time to set things right," she said to herself as she searched for the young girl, finding her in the pool room. "Ah, there you are, Cassie."

Hearing her aunt, the teenager turned rapidly and then climbed out of the pool, running as fast as she could out of the room. "Cassie, wait!" Rachel called to her, but the young girl didn't stop.

The owner of the Grant Mansion had known it wouldn't be easy to get the young girl to wait and listen to her, but she realized she needed another plan and had an idea. "Frankenstrike's lab," she said to herself, slipping up to the lab and setting things up before deciding to go find her niece.

Cassie stopped to catch her breath but then saw Rachel come out of another room. "There you are," she said with a smile.

The teenager let out a cry of surprise and ran with her aunt hot on her heels. Deciding to hide in one of the rooms, she entered the first room she came to and would have closed the door if Rachel hadn't been right behind her and caught her right then. "Let go!" Cassie cried out, struggling.

"Sorry, Cassie," she heard her aunt say before feeling the older woman pinch a nerve in her neck. "But I'm not letting the rift between us continue to grow."

The young girl went limp in her arms, having passed out from the nerve pinch. Rachel picked her up and carried her to Frankenstrike's lab, setting her down on the medical berth to rest while she locked the door and waited for Cassie to wake up.

The young girl woke up and found herself in Frankenstrike's lab and she turned to find her aunt sitting beside her. "How are you feeling?" She asked the young girl gently.

"I'm fine," Cassie replied and looked away.

Rachel sighed. "No, you're not fine, Cassie," she said, her voice still soft, but now having a no-nonsense tone. "You're avoiding me because you feel I don't love you anymore, is that right?"

From the flinch the young girl gave, Rachel knew she was right on the mark. She stood up. "Cassie, maybe I was a little harsh in scolding you, but I was upset that you had hurt those bullies, even if they were being mean to you," she said, her voice still brooking no argument, but was also gentle. "You should have avoided being part of the fight, even if you felt the teacher wouldn't do anything about it."

Cassie pulled herself into a ball, not looking at her aunt, but the older woman could see the young girl was listening. "Cassie, just because I scolded you doesn't mean I don't love you," she continued, her voice now at the same gentle tone the young girl had always known her aunt to use. "I wanted you to see that what you had done was wrong. Do you understand?"

The young girl nodded, but still didn't look at her. "Cassie, look at me, pumpkin," she heard her aunt say softly.

The teenager turned to her to see her aunt was looking at her and there was a sad look in her eyes. "I don't want you to think that I don't love you and I don't want you to avoid me, okay?" She said to her.

Cassie sniffled. "But…," she began. "You've…You've never scolded me before. You've always taken my side."

Rachel listened and then grew thoughtful. "Is that why you've been avoiding me too?" She asked softly. "You felt that I didn't believe you?"

"Kind of," the young girl replied. "I…I was hoping you'd understand."

"Cassie, I do understand that you were angry at the bullies and felt the teacher wouldn't stop them," Rachel said gently. "And I know you hate it when people speak badly about the family. But you also know I don't approve of fighting unless it's the only option you have. You had the option to walk away too and you didn't take it, which is why I was upset at you."

Cassie looked at her. "But I've told the teacher countless times and she's done nothing to stop them," she said. "That's why I felt…I had to do something."

Her aunt looked thoughtful. "I see," she said after a moment. "Well, there was one other option you had."

"What?" Cassie asked.

"You could have told me and I could have asked the Superintendent to step in and take action too."

The words, though gentle, made the young girl flinch again. "I…I didn't want to…bother you with it," she said. "You've already been under so much stress with everything…,"

Rachel gently placed her fingers over Cassie's mouth, gently stopping her words. "Cassie, if bullies are bothering you, then I want to know about it," she said. "Yes, I've been dealing with a lot lately, but I want to know when my own niece is being bullied so that I can put a stop to it, no matter what else I'm dealing with."

The teenager felt tears come to her eyes and when she felt her aunt pull her into a hug, those tears fell out as she began crying. Rachel held her gently, rubbing the young girl's back and letting her cry. A few minutes later, Cassie sniffled, wiping at her eyes. "I'm sorry, Auntie Rachel," she said softly.

"I forgive you, sweetie," she said. "And I'm sorry too. I was a little too harsh on you."

"I know you didn't meant to be," Cassie said. "And I forgive you."

Feeling the rift between them was finally mended, Rachel smiled and then grew mischievous. "However, you did run from me and you've been avoiding me," she said, holding her niece in a hug. "And for that, you need a big tickle torture."

Feeling fingers on her stomach, Cassie squealed and laughed as she was tickled by her aunt, squirming but unable to get free as Rachel tickled her. Though the young girl was wearing a one-piece swimsuit, since she had been swimming, it made the tickle torture really tickle.

Seeing her niece was cheering up, Rachel let her up, but then grabbed the young girl's feet, wrapping an arm around her ankles and tickling her feet, making the teenager squeal again as her feet were tickled and she tried to escape. "Oh, you're not getting away that easy," Rachel said with a chuckle before letting the young girl have a breather and catching her in a hug again, blowing raspberries into her neck.

The young girl squealed again and laughed before feeling her aunt stop for good and she giggled before looking up at her. "Still, I'm sorry, Aunt Rachel," she said. "I…I didn't like avoiding you, especially when I wanted to talk to you but felt you wouldn't listen to me."

"I'll always listen to you, sweetie. You can come talk to me about anything, no matter what," Rachel said with a smile.

"Promise?"

"I promise," the older woman said. "Now…why don't we take the Mansion off the lockdown and you and I go to the amusement park today? Just the two of us."

Liking that idea, Cassie instantly headed for her room to get dressed and she and Rachel were soon off for the amusement park, laughing and hugging each other, happy to be aunt and niece.

Cassie also felt a lot better, now knowing that her aunt always loved her, even if she occasionally had to scold her, she still loved her and that wouldn't ever change.

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 **Please leave a review, but no flames!**

 **GoldGuardian2418**


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